Sins of Our Father
by lady.sakura.vendetta
Summary: <html><head></head>Sequel to Fallen Angels.  Something is stirring when an Umbran Witch is sent on their tail - whose demon master is none too happy with Lucifer and his children being sealed, and the angel blood which Selene and her family bear, or Sparda's betrayal.</html>
1. Chapter 1

**First, a big thank you to all who reviewed, even ages after The Seraphim and Fallen Angels was posted. I appreciate all your input. I didn't really work on a sequel because I didn't want it to seem forced, and frankly I've been working on my own personal 'original work' (which admittedly will always take precedence over any fanfic – sorry guys!). Anyway this is a work in progress that I have mapped out but it will be (unlike the others) a trial. I'll see how it goes.**

**I couldn't wait to work on Luke and Eva to see how they would turn out. After a few studies here and there (a whole lot of work for a fanfic – I know!) I couldn't resist!**

**Anyway, a thought occurred to me: Bayonetta is charged with killing angels, she has to. And Selene and Michael are angels … and for all its faults and convoluted (and shaky, insubstantial) plot I enjoyed Bayonetta as a character and the game play. So I thought I would throw her into the mix.**

**Any thoughts/reviews/opinions would be appreciated! Also, as standard I do not own any character in DMC or Bayonetta, I do, however own Michael and Selene. That's about it. You know the drill.**

**Ja ne!**

* * *

><p>"I told you it was a bad idea." The boy's twin sister said, her arms folded above her head.<p>

He was covered from head to toe in demon blood after being swallowed by a disgusting toad demon and he was futily trying to shake the entrails off him.

"If it weren't for me, you'd be half digested by now." His sister reminded him, turning her blue eyes to him. She was spotless, without a scratch as _usual_.

"Ugh. Shut up, Eva." He brother grumbled.

"Luke!" She chided. "How are we supposed to hide the fact that we snuck out to go demon hunting when Dad said we're not allowed until we've completed out lessons when _you_ take all those unnecessary risks. I _told_ you to watch out for those lures. I _told_ you there was a demon on the end of them."

"_I told you_." He mimicked childishly. "I don't understand why we can't go out on missions alone."

"Not until we're sixteen." His sister reminded him.

"Oh come on. We're the descendents of Sparda. Why the hell would we need to wait? I'm sick of all the text books and the training. I want to bring home a demon head and mount it to the wall."

"There's nothing wrong with a bit of preparation." His sister told him.

Luke, the fractionally younger of the two, rolled his eyes, raking a hand through his silver and red hair. "Poindexter."

"If that's what you call sensibly prepared then yes, _I am_." Eva grinned suddenly.

Despite being the one that looked most like her father, she was the least reckless. She was just as strong as her brother, and was faster and more agile than him, she spent a lot of time preparing, making strategies and analysing the situations, whilst her brother barrelled in without thinking and hoped for the best, which drove her insane.

He had displayed his reckless streak by convincing her that they should sneak out that night and go to an old abandoned manor house that he had heard was crawling with a demon infestation. Their father had insisted that they not be allowed on solo missions until they were sixteen, which would be next month, but it was not quick enough for Luke, who was notoriously impatient. Once there they had fought through the cannon fodder of marionettes before heading out the gardens.

Eva had taken her eyes off him for _one minute_ and he had gone from her side. When she finally found him he had trailed further into the gardens where he seemed to be frolicking with what looked like dancing naked demon women. Eva, who listened astutely to her parents tales of demon slaying (while her brother did not), immediately knew what it was and had called after her brother, but not fast enough as a giant Bael demon leapt from the shadows, and before she had been able to stop him, it swallowed him.

Consequently, as usual, Eva had been forced to dive it, dicing the demon open and freeing her headstrong brother.

She glanced at the fountain they stood by, glancing at the carnage around them, listening to it burble.

"We'll sneak in before the notice." Luke assured her. "They won't even notice."

"That's what you said we you wanted _me_ to sneak you out so _you_ could sneak into that club. You got me in trouble when I tried to drag you out when I realised it was a strip club!"

Luke made a devilish grin identical to his father's that was set off with twice as much charm with the expressive eyes he had inherited from his mother. "So why did you bother to come with me tonight if you knew you'd get into trouble?"

"Because if I didn't you would've been eaten by a demon."

"Ahhh! _You love your brother. How cute_!" He leaned in trying to press a wet child-like kiss, dripping demon blood over her too.

Eva responded by punching him hard so he toppled into the fountain with such force that the tiers crumpled and collapsed on him, the water spraying up high into the air and she stormed off.

"Come back!" Luke shouted, laughing hard. "Don't you love me anymore ...?"

"_Idiot_!" She hissed, picking up pace.

* * *

><p>Selene and Dante had finished the monstrous demon inside the church and were now going through the small fry that had come with it: a platoon of Beelzebub and Marionettes. The pews had been smashed apart, the stained glass shattered and still the demons storming around them were making a mess.<p>

They stood back to back, guns in hand, firing relentlessly until their targets diminished in number and all fell silent.

Selene sighed deeply, drawing The Seraphim and Dante holstered Ebony and Ivory.

"I think that's it, angel." He said, turning to grin lopsided at his wife, and he grasped her suddenly to him. "You know you're getting to be like fine wine ... getting better with age."

Selene laughed hysterically. "What beer mat did you learn that one on?"

"The one I confiscated from our son." He admitted ruefully. "After I caught him smelling of booze."

Selene sighed, well aware of Luke's deviously roguish attitude. "He gets that from you, you know."

Dante raised his hands in mock surrender. "Me? _Never_. I'm a perfect gentleman." However, he spoiled the admission by kissed her in a very ungentleman-like way, which his wife didn't seem to mind in the least.

"We should head back before we find he's tied the bed sheets together and snuck out into another strip club, or a bar or a casino ..." She trailed off bleakly.

But Dante laughed, earning him a sharp glare. "Trish will keep an eye on them. They'll be just fine."

* * *

><p>Luke and Eva crept into the house undetected, climbing up side of the house and into their window. When they got there, however, they realised that they had not been quite so 'undetected' as they hoped. Their father sat in a chair facing the window, arms folded over his chest waiting for them. Luke who had come through first balked at the fury in his father's eyes. When Eva finally plopped inside she paled visibly.<p>

"Luke Vergil Sparda!" Dante enunciated his son's full name and then his daughter. "Eva Bethany Sparda!"

The twins gulped knowing when they were addressed this way it meant only heaps and heaps of trouble.

"Did I not make myself clear when I told you to stay in the house ...?" He said slowly.

"There might have been _some_ misconceptions ..." Luke started cockily before realising his folly when his father's eyes blazed. "None what so ever, sir."

Eva shook her head in agreement.

"As you obviously can't be trusted, I'm sending you both to Fortuna." Dante said. "There will be no cell phone, no computer, no iPod. No anything."

"What! No way!" Luke burst. "That place is boring! What am I supposed to do?"

"You can help out Nero in The Order." Dante's expression indicated any further outbursts would ensure a more severe punishment. "Are we understood on the matter ...?"

Luke begrudgingly nodded. Dante turned to Eva, who nodded as well.

"You two will stay here for the rest of the night. I don't want to see hide or hair of you until tomorrow morning where you will get up first thing and report to the training room." Dante eyed his children before leaving and locking the door behind him.

Eva passed an acidic glare to Luke. "Just great. You have us stuck on laundry duty for god knows how long at Fortuna because you can't be bothered to wait a month."

"Hey, nobody said you had to go you know." He shot back.

"I know what you're like. You could have died. I saved you, but that's okay. There's no need to thank me."

Luke shrugged and sank onto the bed. "I can handle myself."

"Oh yeah? What kind of demon was it?"

"The ugly kind."

Eva threw her arms into the air and stomped to her bed.

"At least you get to hang out with Hope and can enjoy the library in all its geeky glory." Luke shot at her.

"I had plans!"

"Pssht." Luke lay back on his bed. "Probably just going through books and studying as usual."

"_I had a date_!" Eva threw a pillow at him when he laughed at her admonition.

* * *

><p>Dante was undressing in his room while Selene sat at the vanity table brushing through her hair in her night dress.<p>

"I'm starting to feel very guilty about all the mishaps I put my father through ..." He sighed. "_You'll understand when you have kids_, he'd say. I hate to admit the guy was right. I wish I'd _belted myself_ after what I did now."

Selene giggled and turned to him, instantly dispelling his bad mood. "I'm sure he'll grow out of it ... eventually." He features dropped as she doubted her own words. "Still ... did you find out what they got up to?"

"Cleared a full house of demons and one Bael." Dante tried hard not to sound impressed.

Selene peered at him through the mirror. "I saw that. You didn't encourage them ... did you ...?"

"No ... I offered them out to Nero for the help he needs." Dante grinned. "I thought military school wasn't quite going to work. So I did what I would have hated the most when I was his age." He came up behind her, nuzzling at her neck.

"You weren't too hard on Eva, were you?" Selene fought against his seduction, trying to steer the conversation. "Y-you know she only follows him to look out for him ..."

"Mmmm. I was fair on both of them ..." He continued to try and distract her.

"W-when ... did you send them away ...?"

"Immediately."

Selene turned in his arms. "Not Eva. She ... she has ... plans ..."

"If she wanted to stop Luke she should have gotten Trish or called us, not chased after him. She only encourages him." Dante looked at her. "What plans ...?"

Selene debated whether or not to lie, and was unable to, so she was honest. "A ... date."

Dante stiffened and stood. "She's _definitely_ going as soon as possible."

"But Dante ..."

"If a boy wants to date her, he had to ask _me_ first. I'm her father."

Selene barely stifled a giggle. "Dante, this isn't the eighteenth century you know. Eva is old enough and smart enough to make her own decisions. She puts up with Luke."

"She's not even sixteen yet." Dante persisted, wondering at what point in his life he had suddenly become his father. "Besides, does this date know what she is or what she does?"

"Oh of course, she told him the moment they met at the seedy little bar-"

"What? !" Dante started towards the door to head for his children's room when Selene's hysterical laughter stopped him and he realised she had only been joking.

She stood and moved towards him, winding her arms around him and setting him down on the bed before sinking down behind him and rubbing the tension from his shoulders. "There now." She said. "You have to remember that our children are just as strong as we are, and we faced down Lucifer and his children."

She leaned forward and started to kiss his neck, turning the technique he had been using against her moments earlier against him. "Now come here and relax."

* * *

><p>The castle was dark, nestled on the cliff side and all run down. Only the southernmost side was still intact. Standing atop a parapet which had mostly crumbled away was a black clad figure staring out to sea. It felt inexplicably odd to be somewhere quiet and yet calming. That wouldn't last long.<p>

She pushed her glasses up her nose before slipping a purple lollipop into her mouth, her dark full lips curling into a smile.

"Not forgetting our mission now are we ...?" Came a voice from the shadows.

The woman turned, her blue eyes fixed behind her. "Not at all."

"You know our bargain." The voice said. "Only once you accomplish your task at hand will we let you free."

"Yes, yes. Kill the half angels, and the Son of Sparda." She waved absently. "Then you'll consider my debt paid and set me free. It's simple enough."

A low laugh. "Good, because you know your soul rightfully belongs to us, this is a boon I do not have to offer you."

"You just _so generous_." The woman purred.

The presence that had been behind her left and the woman sighed. "Better get this over and done with."

She glanced up, waiting for the moon to peek out from behind the clouds, and when they did, she stepped off the building and walked down the wall.


	2. Chapter 2

Michael was wandering through the city, winding through the lesser backstreets looking for the old bookstore he had heard about. Lady had picked up some information that there was a tome relating to angels, and he thought it wise to acquire it so it could be kept safe in his library.

Eva walked beside him to help him with his errands and she looked distinctly upset. Dante had only allowed her to go because she was helping her Uncle (and because he felt guilty for telling her off just as much as Luke who kept getting her into trouble).

"Is something bothering you?" Michael asked, turning to his young niece.

Eva, as usual, pasted a bright smile on her face. "No. Nothing. Just thinking, that's all."

"Your mother told me about what happened last night."

Eva frowned, unable to keep up the charade and she sighed dejectedly. "Oh." She looked up at her Uncle. She loved spending time with him as they both shared a love of reading, unlike Luke who hated to read anything unless it had pictures of half naked women.

Eva was a tremendously skilled warrior, but also highly intelligent, and she liked everything to be well thought out, never making any split second decisions, something Luke teased her incessantly about.

"You let him get you into trouble again …?" Michael sounded amused and she looked away.

"I don't know why I bother going with him. I know he doesn't listen to reason. He's a stubborn reckless idiot!"

"And yet you follow him anyway."

Eva nodded. "I don't know what I'd do if he never came back one day."

Michael nodded understandingly. "How is your training going?"

"I've mastered every assault course my dad sets up, and my aim is almost as good as yours now."

Michael laughed. "Wonderful."

They stopped outside a little shop huddled away at the end of the alley, peering about. It didn't seem like a shop, or much of anything. The windows were blacked out, there was no sign to advertise it as a book store and it looked run down as if abandoned.

Eva glanced about her before following in behind Michael. Once inside they came to a dim space lit only with a few oil lamps. There were shelves that vanished into darkness out of the circle of warm light, and a counter at the far side that nobody seemed to be manning, piled over with books. There was a variety of clocks at the back wall, their pendulums swaying and they ticked loudly all at the same time.

The beamed ceiling was pitch black, and carved with odd symbols Eva hadn't seen before and despite herself she couldn't help but feel a little anxious about the place.

Michael strode to the counter and rang on the bell.

"Hello?" He called.

There came a sound of clattering out the back through an archway behind the counter that made Eva jump and scuttle closer to Michael. She scolded herself mentally. She was the granddaughter of Sparda and the Archangel Gabriel, and the daughter of Dante and Selene who had thwarted Lucifer and his children. She was a demon hunter of the highest calibre. There was nothing she should fear.

She watched as a tall thin man walked through the archway to the desk, dressed in a sharp black suit and a top hat of white. His thin eyes regarded the two carefully.

"Yes?" He said.

"I'm looking for a book I'm told you have." Michael said.

The man laughed, waving his arm out to the countless rows of shelves that vanished into darkness. "As you can see, I have many to choose from."

"Actually I'm looking for a specific one." Michael pressed. "It's called the White Grimoir."

The man stiffened suddenly before regaining composure. "The … White Grimoir …?"

Michael nodded. "That's right."

Shakily the man grasped an oil lamp from his desk and handed it out to Michael, who took it uncertainly. "It would be at the back of the shop, left corner if it's here. The title isn't familiar but I may have it. There are so many books here I'm not sure."

Michael nodded and strode towards the dark space, waving Eva to follow behind him. Neither noticed the tall dark figure lurking the other side in the far corner, watching them intently, pushing her glasses up her nose.

Eva followed close by Michael as they strode through into the darkness. It was especially dusty back here. The dark didn't frighten her, she dealt with demons and had never been afraid of it, not even when she was younger. But something about the place put her ill at ease, and she felt as though they were being watched.

"Uncle Michael?" She said.

"Yes?"

"What's the White Grimoir?"

"It is supposed to be a book which details every Angelic Arm and their use."

A silence fell between them as Eva dutifully scanned the shelves looking for anything with that title. Many of the spines bore ancient titles in languages she couldn't read. Her mother and Uncle had taught her all the languages they knew and she was fluent in all of them including Latin. And yet there was no title she could read back here.

She turned as something caught her eye. It looked like … a black butterfly. Her eyes widened, aware of the danger and she suddenly threw herself at Michael, knocking him to the ground. Something sharp wound overhead, missing them by a hairs breadth as they tumbled down, slicing a deep gouge in the shelves.

Eva reacted quicker than her uncle, quickly drawing the custom made guns her father had given her: one black and one white hand gun called Dawn and Dusk. Much like her father she was able to channel her power through her weapons, though until she knew what she was dealing with she refrained from doing so.

She fired at the dark shape heading towards them and was amazed that they dodged and hurtled forwards, launching a hit towards her. She dodged, and kneed them with just as much speed sending them back.

"Oooh." Came a female voice as they regained their balance and stood before her. "You _are_ a clever girl."

"Who are you!" Eva shouted.

By now Michael was making it to his feet and was drawing the Halo, urging Eva to get behind him, but the girl was as stubborn as her mother and wouldn't budge. He lifted the lamp in his other hand, which fortunately he had managed to keep from going out to reveal a woman clad in an all in one black catsuit with a cut circle at her chest set with some kind of round trinket with a crescent moon. Her glossy black hair was piled into a hive on her head and down her shoulders, clamped down the arms of her outfits and flared out at her elbows and was woven through with red ribbon and a light gold chain. Her blue eyes, dusted over with purple eyes shadow, peered at them through her thin rectangular rimmed glasses, a sideward smile quirking at her generous lips with a beauty spot set just beneath it to the right. Her hands were covered with white gloves, secured at the top with three thick black straps, and held a pair of red guns that glinted like rubies.

"Are you after the book …?" Michael asked calmly.

"No, I'm after your life, half angel." The woman said putting a hand on her curving hip. "It's just business, nothing personal I assure you."

"You're working for a demon?" Michael readied to fire.

"Something like that." She purred.

"Which one?"

Eva looked from the woman to Michael, trying her hardest to keep her composure just as level as his.

The woman just shrugged. "I don't see that it matters all that much since you're going to be dead soon anyway."

"We will see about that." Michael turned to his niece. "Eva, get out, go and find Lady."

Eva shook her head. "I won't leave you here with this woman!"

"You would be wise to do as you've been told, little girl." The woman said, and felt a slight tinge of admiration at the stubborn glare that was directed at her.

"No way." Eva said.

"Please." Michael urged. "Lady is not far away."

"Two of us will be a better chance against her." Eva argued. "I'll give you support fire. But don't send me away."

Michael sighed. "Stay back, then."

He stepped in front of her and set down the lamp, and was surprised that his assailant was waiting patiently, watching them with mild amusement.

"Might I ask the name of my assassin ...?" He asked.

The woman inclined her head. "Dear me, did I forget my manners ...?" She drew away one gun and held out her hand as if to shake. "Bayonetta." She realised Michael wasn't going to shake, and sensibly so. "Alright ... let's get this started."

Bayonetta sprang forwards and Michael moved quickly, Eva shifting aside as well. Bayonetta kicked a book shelf and forced them to run, and she jumped down before them, firing. Eva dodged ... only to realise she had weapons _on the heels of her shoes_! She jumped to dodge the fire from them, smacking against a shelf and sending it toppling away from them.

Michael groaned as some of the bullets hit him, but he persevered, working to try and find some way out of the enclosed space and into the street where they might have a better advantage. He didn't have the time to come up with a strategy, however, as a heavy hit sent him careening backwards. The woman had moved so fast he didn't seemed to see her.

"Uncle Michael!" Eva screamed.

Bayonetta turned at this as she jumped over Michael who was lying on his back unable to recover quickly enough. "Uncle ...?"

As Bayonetta made to fire a death shot to Michael, the gun was shot from her hand by an immense force and she stopped. Within seconds Eva was standing over Michael in her devil trigger form, her body glowing with red light, body pulsating with power. It seemed like another form burned just around her, not quite visible.

Bayonetta's delicate brows rose. "Oh. This is interesting."

"Stay away from him!" Eva screamed. "If you want to fight somebody ... then fight me."

Bayonetta studied her for a moment. "And you would be ...?"

"I am Eva, daughter of Dante, descendent of Sparda." Eva straightened. "I kill demons like you."

Bayonetta said nothing and then she laughed softly. "I'm not exactly a demon." She sighed. "I'm afraid I have ... a previous engagement and our time has run a little long." She started to walk away.

Eva surged forwards. "Come back here!"

But Bayonetta was gone before she could reach her.

"Eva ... stop." Michael was struggling to his feet, his bullet wounds healing.

Eva did as she was bade and turned to him before running over to make sure he was okay.

"Who was that?" Eva asked drawing her guns.

"I don't know, but I don't like it." He glanced at the wrecked store. "We'd better leave."

* * *

><p>Bayonetta was sitting in The Gates of Hell - Rodin's bar as he shook her drink.<p>

"You get your target yet, Bayonetta?" Rodin, the huge demon who ran the bar asked as he slid the drink to her.

"I met a very interesting girl today." Bayonetta sipped at her drink. "Tell me ... what do you know about Sparda ...?"

The glass Rodin had been holding was smashed in his hand as he clenched his fists. "He was a traitor who turned against his own kind and fought against his allies to defend the humans. I don't like his name mentioned in my bar."

Most would have been intimidated by the huge bald man, but Bayonetta didn't seem concerned. "Oh?"

Rodin considered broaching the unpleasant subject, but then as it was Bayonetta asking, he decided to tell her. This was her job. "Two thousand years ago, Sparda, Mundus' strongest and most trusted warrior, rebelled to save the human world. He sealed his power at the same time he sealed away the demon world. He had two twin sons: Vergil and Dante. Vergil as far as I know was killed at Mallet Island during Mundus resurrection. Dante, however, has been a plague to demons, hunting them down. He destroyed Temin-ni-gru, killed Mundus, Argosax, the demon Abigail and thwarted Sanctus – a holy man bent on bringing forth the demons. But the worst ... the worst thing he ever did was to stand against Lucifer himself over fifteen years ago and then his children."

"Lilith and Sammael?"

Rodin nodded. "Man made a promise to kill all demons, he's shown his face in my neck of the woods one too many times than I'd like. And the rumours have been going around that he's teamed up with some half angels too. Can't say that I like the guy."

"He sounds like a regular felon." Bayonetta knocked down the last of her drink. "But I wonder ..."

Rodin waited for her to speak, but she didn't. "Something on your mind?"

"I think I met Dante's daughter today."

Rodin's face went sour. "Yeah. I'd heard that he and the half angel had kids, but it was never confirmed."

"So that would make them part angel, demon _and_ human ..."

Rodin nodded. "Yeah. Makes you sick, doesn't it?"

But Bayonetta didn't answer him. She didn't like having to follow the beck and call of her demon masters, but she had no choice.

"I'll take another round." She said.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay. That's it so far with more to come I'm just drafting it. It's been a while since I've played Bayonetta (and DMC for that matter :( ...) Again any suggestions, comments, reviews, opinions are all greatly appreciated. <strong>


	3. Chapter 3

Luke and Eva were sitting in their private compartment on the train that was taking them directly to Fortuna.

"So, some hot chick attacked you?" Luke commented, slouching back in his seat, his feet up on the chair beside Eva. "If I knew that book stores were that fun I'd go more often."

Eva tolled her eyes. "Shut up, Luke."

"You got to go out yesterday, even though we're meant to be grounded." Luke pointed out.

"_I_ was helping Uncle Michael." Eva tossed her head huffily.

"Jeez. Don't get stressed at me because your boyfriend dumped you."

Eva blasted him with a glare. "He was not my boyfriend, because we never went on a date because _you_ decided to sneak out and get us in trouble _again_."

Luke chuckled. "Like I said, nobody told you to go."

Eva stared out the window, unwilling to dignify him with any kind of response, or go through this loop again. "Whatever."

They sat in sullen silence, with Luke tapping his feet beside her in an attempt to annoy her. When that didn't work he started to hum … and when that failed he started to whistle.

"Luke … if you don't shut up … I'm going to separate you from your ball sack … assuming I can find the bald patch it's located first." Eva warned.

In response, he whistled louder, and was rewarded by a sword through his middle just as the conductor was walking in to check their tickets, who stared wide eyed at the gory scene before him, his eyes rolling into the back of his head and he passed out.

"You missed." Luke said, laughing. "And killed the conductor. Was that part of your well thought out, without fault plan, like always, sis ...?"

* * *

><p>Michael was sifting through the library in Fortuna, where Nero had agreed to keep him for his protection. Michael had helped considerably with The Order in getting them a branch over in Europe and until they had found a facility big enough had lent them the Whitchurch Estate.<p>

In return, Nero tipped him off about any Angelic Arms he heard about and was more than happy to help him out when he heard that an attempt had been made on his life by some mysterious assassin.

Selene was over the far side of the library with Lady (who Nero suspected liked Michael because she came rushing over the instant she heard he had been in danger) while Nero was with him helping out in whatever way he could.

"So ... she didn't say what demon or why?" Nero said, going through the book in front of him.

Michael shook his head. "There was something ... odd. She felt like a demon but ... not quite. She said it was just business."

Nero sighed. Things had seemed to be going well for the last seventeen years. They'd steadily been breaking through the ranks of hell, and had managed to slip into Europe to begin work there. They'd taken down demon lord after demon lord.

"Damn ... you don't think it has anything to do with what happened over seventeen years ago ... do you?" Nero said, snapping shut the book.

"I couldn't say. I didn't find the book I was looking for either." Michael closed the book and was reaching for another.

"What about your father or Isaac?" Nero suggested.

"They're still researching some way to bring back Celestia and return her at the very least to the human world. They've been gone for over a month now. They have, however, made it a point to be back for the twin's birthday. They always do."

"That's not until next month."

Michael nodded grimly. He was not unused to his life being sought after, he had lived through it with his sister for most of his life, but it had been nice to be able to rest for the past fifteen years. He knew, however, that these things did not always last.

Nero glanced behind him to see Lady stealing a worried glance at Michael before turning away.

"Can I ask you something?" Nero said, smiling.

"Yes?"

"You and Lady have been spending a lot of time together lately."

Michael chuckled lightly. "I've been helping her in her jobs. She's quite admirable. And I ... I rather like her eyes."

Nero stifled a laugh. "Aren't you the perfect gentleman ..."

Michael didn't seem to catch his drift and so just nodded.

"Michael!" Lady shouted, jumping down from the level above with a book in her hand. "I think I found something!"

Selene jumped down after her and the two men came towards her. Lady held open a page which showed a picture of two jewels and a white clad figure and a black clad figure.

"It says here that there are people called Umbra Witches ... it doesn't say much but it says that in exchange for the power they are born with, their soul belongs to the demons, and more specifically – one powerful demon. It can be one of many. They have to do their master's bidding, - which for the most part is slaying the divine." Lady explained. "They seem to have been wiped out eons ago."

"So perhaps that woman was an Umbra Witch." Nero rubbed at his Devil Bringer. "Just great. This is all we need."

Selene and Michael looked at one another. They had always known their angel blood got them some undesirable attention, but this was the worst so far.

"Don't worry, the knights of the Order will guard Michael. And so will I." Nero promised. "I owe you two my life more times than I care to remember."

"It's no more than you've done for us." Selene chipped in.

"Dante is going to love this." Lady said. "By the way ... where is he?"

"Oh. There was ... an incident on the train journey here." Selene phrased it so carefully all present were intrigued, but knew better than to question the matter.

* * *

><p>Dante stared levelly at the blood that spattered the train seats, and the ambulance that had arrived to take away the passed out conductor, though the way he was babbling a padded cell would have been more fitting.<p>

Luke was all healed, as was to be expected. Eva couldn't seem to meet her father's gaze knowing that this time she actually had done something wrong. Why did she let Luke rile her this much? She _knew_ he went out of his way to do it and she should just ignore him.

"I see we're going to have lots of fun in Fortuna." Dante said flatly. "Come with me. Now. Any funny business and I'll take away all your weapons and you will never see a mission or a demon until you're both twenty-one."

The two gulped, blanching at the prospect. Even Eva who was much calmer than her brother relished hunting demons.

They followed him into Fortuna.

* * *

><p>"What exactly happened ...?" Nero asked as he led Dante into his study, which had shown no signs of improvement at all in the last seventeen years, except for now it had pictures plastered on the wall that Hope had drawn when she was younger, and some she of amazing quality now she was older. Hope seemed to have a talent for drawing, despite the fact that the Devil Bringer she had inherited from her father that had appeared at a later age.<p>

Dante, however, rather than looking angry or even perturbed by his children's behaviour was grinning and chuckling to himself. "Oh. Just playing a game me and your father used to play."

Nero, who had never really met Vergil, glowered. "What game was that?"

"I suppose you could call it a game of mercy. I used to irritate Vergil until he lost his temper ... and he usually ran me through with a sword." Dante grinned. "I always won."

Nero rolled his eyes. "I can imagine. There have been times I wanted to run you through with a blade myself."

Dante laughed. "I try my hardest to tell them off but all I keep thinking is how I was at their age. Then Selene tells me off for it, she says I can't encourage them." He sighed suddenly.

"What is it?"

"I just ... those two are just like Vergil and I ... but I'm worried that what happened to us will repeat with them." Dante propped his hip on the desk. "By the way, how is Hope doing?"

"Putting the guards through their paces, she has good control of her Devil Bringer ... but I feel guilty because it made making friends hard for her. Kids freak out when they see it." Nero smiled suddenly. "She's been dying to spar against Luke and Eva to test what she's learnt, the small fry that hand around here aren't enough for her anymore."

"It not exactly your fault that she has it." Dante pointed out.

"And it's not your fault that your kids are so like you and your brother." Nero countered.

Dante raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, kid. You got me." He kicked up and chair and sank into it. "So ... what's the deal with the woman who tried to kill Michael?"

Nero sank down the other side of the desk and explained what they had found so far before he asked: "Did your father mention anything about it?"

Dante shook his head. "As usual Dad was thoughtful enough not to mention it, the same as he never mentioned that angels were walking the earth _and_ that Lucifer created the demons and that wonderful pact he made that caused us all grief." He folded his arms over his chest. "I want to find out who the demon is that holds her contract and I'll tear him apart with my bare hands."

"One step at a time, Dante." Nero warned.

* * *

><p>Luke had his hands shoved into his pockets as he approached the busty young apprentice knight with blonde hair.<p>

"Hey there, baby." He said and the girl turned. "I couldn't help but notice you, noticing me."

The girl blushed despite herself. "Oh. No I ..."

Luke grinned, and his green eyes locked back with hers. "Let's just cut to the chase, I can see you're a very busy girl. Meet me tonight for dinner."

The girl swallowed enthralled by his voice and his eyes. "Oh ... sure ... okay ..."

"And how about we seal our agreement with a kiss ...?" He leaned forwards and she was meeting him halfway –

A heavy smack around the back of his head and then a sharp pull at his ear wrenched him away from the stunned girl, and before he knew it Eva was dragging him away by his ear looking furious.

"I'll call you!" He shouted after the poor girl.

That earnt him a harder tug and he cried out in pain.

"Honestly, can't you think of a better way to use angelic charm than to score girls? You're such a pervert." Eva scolded.

"Let me go!" Luke protested.

"No way. We're to report to the training room and I'm not going to be late so you can smooth talk an apprentice knight with big boobs."

Luke grinned. "You noticed, huh?"

Eva ground her teeth together, pulling harder, feeling him thrash in her grip, and the other knights turned, stunned by the scene that hurtled by them of Eva dragging her brother behind her before throwing him into the training room like a bowling ball, causing him to tumble inside with much the same effect before slamming the door behind them.

Luke smacked against the wall in a crumpled heap. When he got to his feet, her grasped his sore ear. "Jeez. Is it that time of the month already ...?"

_Just ignore him. Just ignore him. Just ignore him_. Eva chanted in her head.

The two were saved by a trill of soft laughter and they turned to see Hope walking up to them. At seventeen she looked exactly like her father, and very similar to Eva. However, her eyes were large and kind, and despite her capacity in battle she was a gentle soul that only fought if she had to. She hadn't inherited her mother's singing voice but she was a talented artist.

She waved her Devil Bringer, like her fathers, it was blue and white and pulsed with light. It hadn't show up until she was eight, and when it did she lost a lot of friends because they were freaked out about it, but Luke and Eva never minded. Their family was off enough as it was, that kind of thing wouldn't make them bat an eyelid.

"Hey guys!" Hope greeted, her voice soft like Kyrie's.

"Hey."

"Hey."

Hope, unlike Eva, was pretty well developed with a curving figure and a pretty impressive chest size, while Eva was still somewhat flat and skinny even for her age, something Luke teased her about all the time.

"I see you managed to drag him along." Hope gave an awkward grin. "I want to try two against one."

This seemed to peak Luke's interest and he was drawing his sword, which was just a triggered blade like those used by the Order. On their birthday their parents were supposed to present them with a more substantial blade. They had used their parents Devil Arms and Angelic Arms, but hadn't been given any of their own.

Luke's was black with a mesh of ivory stripes, the blade he called Harlequin Knight. Eva's meanwhile was blue and white and was called Sapphire Princess. Hope was already shrugging off her long coat and standing ready.

The three had train together before, and now was no exception. They knew the drill. The twins tensed and then, their swords burned in an arc as they shot forwards. Hope stood her ground, waiting for just the right moment. In a fluid motion she swerved, her Devil Bringer gripping Eva's sword and her foot kicked out at Luke, jarring his blade aside. Then she ducked low and broke away from the two, readying for another volley. As she whirled between the two, swerving from the bite of their blades she felt a sense of exhilaration. The three were so caught up in their mock battle that they failed to notice that they had gained an audience.

Dante and Selene had slipped inside to make sure that Eva and Luke had done as asked and come to the training room.

"They work very well together ... even if they don't always get along." Selene said, but she caught Dante's apprehensive expression. "What is it?"

"Oh. Nothing." Dante lied.

"I know you. And I know when something is up. Spill."

"I've always been worried that the two of them would end up like me and Vergil. The closer it's gotten to the time when we give them their own weapons, the more competitive the two become and the more they argue. That's just how it was with me and my brother."

Selene set her hand on his shoulder. "They'll be fine. They obviously care a great deal about each other despite it all. Eva looks out for him, even though he drives her insane. Luke has looked out for her more times than I care to remember. One day they'd be fighting and them somebody would pick on her and he'd step up and become all serious."

"So was Vergil."

Selene fell silent and instead watched the two. "Hope is getting to be as good as Nero, isn't she?"

"I guess the kid hasn't been slacking off these past seventeen years." He conceded with a sigh, folding his arms behind his head.

"The Order has come along quite nicely too."

Dante nodded, but he was unable to fully shake the sense of concern that had been building the older his children got, and with every move they made he couldn't help but see himself and his twin in them, the way they behaved.

* * *

><p>Bayonetta sat in the seedy bar in the furthest reaches of the city, inhabited only by the shadiest folk, most of which were not always quite human. She sat nursing her glass of whisky, glancing about at the demons and humans, neither all that different from one another, their hearts just as black.<p>

Sitting beside her, barrelling into some obnoxious and loud conversation about work, and the ways of the city was Enzo, a cigar in his hand.

She sighed. "Enzo ... don't make me ask you again." She warned. "I called you here for information, not for your life story."

"What do you want to know?"

"Fortuna City."

Enzo laughed. "Those fuckers? You kiddin' me?" Her expression indicated she obviously wasn't. "They're an army of demon hunters ... used to be led by some old bastard called Sanctus but it turned out the guy was trying to raise demons rather than kill them so he could be a messiah. So their current leader overthrew him with some help, I'm told, from the remaining son of Sparda. They go out of their way to confiscate any Devil Arms they find and lock them away. There are some rumours that their leader is also part demon himself."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, and not only that, but he bears the blood of Sparda – who I might add was supposed to have acted as the feudal lord for that city millennia ago." Enzo laughed until he could barely breathe. "Funniest shit I ever heard."

"I suppose I should go and pay them a little visit. It does look like a pretty little city." She stood and Enzo rose with her, unwilling to stay behind alone in this dive. They went their separate ways, he to his car, and she down the winding smoky streets. She stopped at an alleyway, pausing to take out a lollypop and set it in her mouth.

The shadows behind her writhed and darkened, stretching out until they formed the figure of slender man with one black eye and one red, hidden mostly by his cloak, which seemed attached to the shadows that writhed around him.

Bayonetta didn't even turn. "What do you want?"

"You're not skipping out on your mission I hope." The voice was deep yet smooth. "You remember our deal and what will happen if you don't do it, don't you? Your soul belongs to me."

Bayonetta waived absently. "Yes, yes. I'm getting to it. The whole group you wanted killing are all in Fortuna. I figured it would be more ... efficient ... to kill them all in one fell swoop rather than traipsing the continent. I will infiltrate tonight." She thought about mentioning the hybrid girl, but she was reluctant to gain any more targets to win her freedom, and she had been impressed with the young girls resolve. If she wasn't told she had to kill her, she wouldn't have to. She'd get over the death of her parents – she was a resilient little thing. "Is there anything else or were you just here to check up on me, Azazel?"

"Not at all. Just ensuring that you're ... motivated." Beneath his cloak a crescent of sharp point teeth split, glinting in the street light.

"I can manage that on my own." Bayonetta ensured the demon. "I appreciate the offer though."

The shadows crackled away leaving her alone.

Bayonetta started forwards, making her way towards Fortuna.


End file.
